SpaceX intends to invest up to $100 billion in massive Louisiana spaceport
SpaceX intends to invest up to $100 billion in massive Louisiana spaceport
SpaceX 计划投资高达 1000 亿美元在路易斯安那州建设大型航天港
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said Tuesday that SpaceX will commit $100 billion to develop Starship factories and launch pads in the state’s coastal areas. In doing so, the company seeks to replicate the Starbase facility it has built over the last decade in southern Texas on a larger scale. 路易斯安那州州长杰夫·兰德里（Jeff Landry）周二表示，SpaceX 将投入 1000 亿美元，在该州沿海地区开发星舰（Starship）工厂和发射台。通过此举，该公司旨在以更大的规模复制其过去十年在德克萨斯州南部建立的“星际基地”（Starbase）设施。
The announcement capped months of speculation about SpaceX’s interest in a sprawling parcel of land along the Gulf coast of Louisiana, which offers room to build multiple launch towers and offers access to the methane propellant that fuels the Starship rocket. 这一声明平息了数月以来关于 SpaceX 对路易斯安那州墨西哥湾沿岸大片土地兴趣的猜测。该地块不仅有空间建造多个发射塔，还能方便获取为星舰火箭提供燃料的甲烷推进剂。
Gwynne Shotwell, the president and chief operating officer of SpaceX, said the “Starbase Louisiana” facility would become a self-sustaining spaceport with propellant production, power generation, deep-water shipping capabilities, vehicle processing facilities, and an airport on site. “This will be a project like no other,” she said during a project announcement in Abbeville, a Louisiana town of about 12,000 people that is the closest populated area to the coastal wetlands. SpaceX 总裁兼首席运营官格温·肖特韦尔（Gwynne Shotwell）表示，“路易斯安那星际基地”将成为一个自给自足的航天港，配备推进剂生产、发电、深水运输能力、载具处理设施以及现场机场。在路易斯安那州阿比维尔（Abbeville）的项目发布会上，她说道：“这将是一个独一无二的项目。”阿比维尔是一个拥有约 1.2 万人口的小镇，也是距离该沿海湿地最近的居民区。
Heading to the boot: Why Louisiana?
前往“靴子州”：为何选择路易斯安那？
If SpaceX is to fulfill its ambitions to launch thousands of Starship rockets a year to build a massive constellation of orbital data centers, among other purposes, it needs more launch sites. Currently, the company has one operational Starship launch site at its Starbase Texas facility, and another in development. Three more pads are being built in Florida at Cape Canaveral. But both the Florida and Texas sites are land-constrained, and SpaceX eventually plans to launch dozens of Starship rockets a day. 如果 SpaceX 要实现其每年发射数千枚星舰火箭以构建庞大的轨道数据中心星座（以及其他用途）的雄心，它就需要更多的发射场。目前，该公司在德克萨斯州的星际基地拥有一个可运行的星舰发射场，另一个正在开发中。佛罗里达州卡纳维拉尔角正在建造另外三个发射台。但佛罗里达和德克萨斯州的场地都受到土地限制，而 SpaceX 最终计划每天发射数十枚星舰火箭。
In Louisiana, the company would have no competition for range access, as in Florida, where a half-dozen other private launch companies operate, and far more space than in Texas. The Starbase Texas site encompasses only about 350 acres, and SpaceX also must maintain public access to Boca Chica Beach as much as possible along a single roadway. By contrast, SpaceX is expected to have unfettered access to about 125,000 acres in southern Louisiana, in an area generally referred to as Pecan Island. 在路易斯安那州，该公司将不会像在佛罗里达州那样面临发射范围的竞争（佛罗里达州有六家其他私人发射公司在运营），且拥有的空间远超德克萨斯州。德克萨斯州的星际基地仅占地约 350 英亩，且 SpaceX 必须尽可能保持公众通过单条道路进入博卡奇卡海滩（Boca Chica Beach）的权利。相比之下，SpaceX 预计将能不受限制地使用路易斯安那州南部约 12.5 万英亩的土地，该地区通常被称为“山核桃岛”（Pecan Island）。
This project will face environmental challenges in an area that supports a broad range of waterfowl and other wildlife. Shotwell said Tuesday that SpaceX would only use a small portion of the acreage while otherwise seeking to preserve the wetlands for wildlife and the natural beauty of the area for recreational purposes like fishing, hunting, and boating. The company’s initial efforts at the site will focus on preventing coastal erosion, where the state is losing one to three meters a year. SpaceX intends to partner with state and federal agencies to expand Louisiana’s Coastal Master Plan, including Gulf shoreline protection breakwaters to slow erosion. SpaceX plans to begin construction of the first launch facilities in 2027 and is targeting an initial launch from Louisiana by 2029. 该项目将在一个支持多种水禽和其他野生动物的地区面临环境挑战。肖特韦尔周二表示，SpaceX 只会使用其中一小部分土地，其余部分将致力于保护湿地以供野生动物栖息，并保留该地区的自然美景以供钓鱼、狩猎和划船等休闲活动使用。该公司在该地点的初步工作将集中于防止海岸侵蚀，目前该州每年正流失一到三米的海岸线。SpaceX 打算与州和联邦机构合作，扩大路易斯安那州的“海岸总体规划”，包括建设墨西哥湾海岸线保护防波堤以减缓侵蚀。SpaceX 计划于 2027 年开始建设首批发射设施，并目标在 2029 年实现从路易斯安那州的首次发射。
Advantages of Southern Louisiana
路易斯安那州南部的优势
The Louisiana location has other key advantages beyond open land. It lies close to the Intracoastal Waterway, with deep-water access for moving rockets and payloads into the site. It is relatively close, by barge, to SpaceX’s massive Starfactory in South Texas near Boca Chica beach. Additionally, the southward-facing location offers potential access to polar orbits. In contrast to equatorial orbits that move from west to east, polar orbits go north to south (or vice versa) and generally pass near or over the poles. Most of SpaceX’s orbital data center satellites will likely end up in near-polar orbits. From Louisiana, a Starship could reach a polar orbit with only a short traverse over Mexico nearly 1,000 miles downrange. 除了开阔的土地外，路易斯安那州的位置还有其他关键优势。它靠近内陆水道（Intracoastal Waterway），拥有深水通道，可将火箭和有效载荷运送到现场。通过驳船，它距离 SpaceX 在德克萨斯州南部博卡奇卡海滩附近的庞大“星际工厂”（Starfactory）相对较近。此外，朝南的地理位置提供了进入极地轨道的潜力。与从西向东移动的赤道轨道不同，极地轨道从北向南（或反之）运行，通常经过极地附近或上方。SpaceX 的大多数轨道数据中心卫星最终可能会进入近极地轨道。从路易斯安那州出发，星舰只需在下游约 1000 英里处短暂穿越墨西哥上空，即可到达极地轨道。
Louisiana officials said they first heard from SpaceX about the company’s interest in the location a little more than six months ago. The site became available as part of a legal settlement that resolves dozens of lawsuits that blame ExxonMobil for pollution and coastal land loss. Since then, the project moved quickly toward reaching a deal. In addition to massive financial investments, SpaceX promised to create at least 3,000 local jobs, and up to 10,000, as the company seeks welders, energy workers, and other trades while building out a small city to support the world’s largest rocket. 路易斯安那州官员表示，他们在大约六个多月前首次收到 SpaceX 关于对该地点感兴趣的消息。该地块的可用是作为一项法律和解协议的一部分，该协议解决了数十起指控埃克森美孚（ExxonMobil）造成污染和沿海土地流失的诉讼。自那时起，该项目迅速达成协议。除了巨额的财务投资外，SpaceX 还承诺创造至少 3000 个当地就业岗位，最高可达 10000 个，因为该公司在建设支持这一世界最大火箭的小型城市时，需要焊工、能源工人和从事其他行业的人员。